I go to Parker AZ all the time, and I have a 25' Pontoon boat. I am trying to tow the TI along side or behind the boat so that when I get the the Shallows for the day the wife and I can sail and enjoy the day. I tried along side and the TI was banging along the aluminum hulls and scratched up the TI a little. Behind the boat it was all over the place. I tried with the Ammas in and out. Does anyone have any ideas.

RiverSailor702:You could just get 2 pieces of PVC pipe (I use that stuff for everything), each 10 ft long and run a rope thru them. Then tie one end of each to the back corners of you big boat. The other end will go to the padeye on the front of the TI, or safer yet wrapped around the front AKA brace (one on each side).This will help the TI track better, the V shape formed by the PVC pipe helps keep the TI centered, and also prevents it from climbing up on you when you slow down (picture in your mind a wood chipper). It's only about ten bucks worth of PVC, and should help. I would first try about 1 inch OD (whatever that size is), if the class 40 stuff doesn't seem strong enough you can go to the thicker class 80 PVC, but I don't think it will be necessary.

If you go to the front AKA brace (the strongest point on the boat) you might end up needing 15 or 20 feet, this is kind of dependent on how far your motor sticks out from the back of the big boat. It would be a shame to chop up the TI with the prop ( like going into a wood chipper).

I did something like this but the TI was the pull boat, and we pulled a pair of kayaks lashed together all loaded up with scuba tanks, coolers, etc out to dive sites (we called it a party barge). I had the PVC pipe tied to the eyelet on the back of each AMA, then to the bow of each kayak in kind of a V shape. They actually tracked pretty well when we were sailing off shore (maybe 5-10 miles out to Sand Key in Key West) 2 foot rough chop. It wouldn't have worked without lashing two kayaks side to side, kayaks are not stable enough and all your gear tips over on a single kayak even with small waves. the PVC I used was only about 3/4" dia OD (don't know what size that is), and wished it had been just a little stronger.There were 4 of us scuba diving, the other couple had their own inflatable kayaks and they just hung onto the handles of the TI (not tied), which seemed to work out best. Were going to do it again next week down in Key West for mini lobster season (but not on the coral reef, that's illegal).Hope this helps youBob

You got some really good advice from the 3 guys who responded before me.

A bridle, rudder centered and locked, and perhaps a small drone chute or drift sock (open it as much as you can) is probably going to be the best you can do. You'll have to give up a little top end speed on the mother ship but you should get the entire assembly there without too much muss and fuss.

I would leave the rudder up and leave some rope trailing in the water. The drag should help keep the TI straight. Attach a boat bumper or something to the end of the rope for more drag and some visibility.

Instead of PVC pipe, I'd run the ropes off your boat through a couple of pool noodles - will serve the same for keeping the TI off Pontoons' butt and also float keeping it away from prop and for better visual reference

... getting the rudder perfectly centered sounds difficult - why not just rely on the daggerboard for yaw stability ?

I suspect that the centreboard/dagger board is further forward than ideal for towing stability. Locking the rudder is easy on my TI due to the external emergency lines I fitted, but I tend to agree that towing something creating drag out the back is simpler, and is going to really help keep the towed Island in line, with rudder up.

A lot of times when just kayaking in rivers that are too shallow for mirage drive, we often just drag a rope behind the kayak. It works amazingly well especially on tandem yaks when the couple can't work together (us) when paddling. I would think something like this would give the least drag, and would hopefully keep the boat straight while towing.It would be worth trying anyway.